How to Design Effective Mobile Learning Systems?

Mobile learning essentially rides on the technological advancement in the field of information technology and communication. However, to harness the state-of-the-art mobile devices for the purpose of learning, calls for greater understanding between different stakeholders viz. the content providers, device manufacturers and application developers, and the end users.

"Begin with the end in mind" said Stephen R. Covey. The effectiveness of any mobile learning program depends on its planning premise. The ideas developed here are paradigmatic for any mobile learning scenario.

I. Paint the big picture: For the acceptance of mobile learning mode by the end-user, always project the value addition. For instance, an employee or student has to travel and attend a weekend course or stay extra hours if he chooses to ignore mobile option. Communicate effectively the cost-time benefits, and the constraints in using conventional learning modes.

II. Deliver an easy and intuitive user experience: Develop a "current technology vs. end-user capability matrix". This calls for continuous research on the leading mobile platforms -iPhone, Blackberry and Android. This gives the premise for content development with scalability over the popular mobile platforms. What Bill Gates said, independent of context, is true here; the barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

III. Bridge the knowledge divide: One of the barriers to mobile learning is the gap a learner faces between his current knowledge level and the higher level he intends to reach. Design the content based on the average knowledge level of the intended learners. Provide additional links in the modules that will give elementary knowledge on the subject for the end user who may need it.

IV. First impression is the best: Always aim for maximum positive impact on the end-user at the first content delivery. Avoid using any ambiguous imagery or confusing topics in the first stage of learning. Develop interest by introducing easy to understand concepts using familiar methods of access. Complex matters can wait till sufficient familiarity is achieved.

V. There is more than one way to skin a cat: Approach to learning varies with the individuals. Always develop alternative modules through which knowledge can be communicated to varied personalities. Provide much latitude in assessment methods and introduce innovative techniques for recapitulation.

VI. Provide easy feedback options: "Procrastination is the thief of time" said Edward Young. Many learners have an inherent hesitation to communicate their learning difficulties; some are good in oral communication, others in written and some are more comfortable to interact with a peer group than the one up in the hierarchy. A good design should provide multiple feedback mechanisms, including creating peer group networks.

VII. Make haste slowly: While going too fast in content delivery may leave many behind, a pace too slow may affect the tempo of learning. Maintain a rhythm in delivery and assessments based on feedback from focus group interviews. While inordinate delay may compromise overall learning objectives, unresolved learning difficulties increase the rate of dropouts and make the system ineffective.

Time is ripe for players to make conquest points in the mobile learning arena and the early bird catches the worm. Any ill conceived initiatives can cast shadows on the credibility of this innovative avenue of mobile learning.

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Can We Can Improve the Learning of Mathematics?

There is, I think, sufficient data to indicate that, for both students and teachers, mathematics is the least popular subject in elementary schools, and this has been true since before I entered mathematics education over 40 years ago.

After a life time spent in mathematics education I have come to the conclusion that, despite the improvements in our understanding of how children learn, and new methods of teaching mathematics, students still leave school with a low level of numeracy. To be clear, numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts, and includes number sense, operation sense, computation, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics. Numeracy also requires that students have an intuitive or emotional feel for mathematics that gives them confidence in predicting or calculating answers.

Many people would argue that there is no emotional aspect to mathematics, just obey the rules, get the right answer and move on. However most adults have a strong emotional response to anything related to school mathematics; unfortunately these responses are usually negative!

Intellectually students can deal with everyday calculations (after all, they are rarely without a calculator), but many lack the emotional understanding that gives confidence in predicting and calculating answers.

The problem does not lie directly with the teachers but more with the way we recruit and train potential teachers. We have a self perpetuating cycle; students don't enjoy mathematics in school, graduate and go to university where they tend to avoid mathematics courses. They enroll in teacher education programs where they may or may not take a course on how to teach mathematics. Even if they do take a course on teaching methods for mathematics it lacks value if the participants have serious gaps in their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. It is like a course on how to coach basketball if you have no knowledge of the game and the skills involved.

The student, totally unprepared to teach mathematics, now enters the teaching profession and the cycle continues.

The dilemma facing educational leaders, politicians, and society in general is figuring where and how to break the cycle.

One possible solution, which could address the problem fairly quickly, would be to have a series of courses addressing both mathematical understanding, and teaching methods for specific topics or strands of the curriculum. On successful completion of each course participants would be given a certificate to say they had been trained in that topic and were qualified to teach that topic. Over time teachers would become fully qualified to teach mathematics.

This, like most solutions to problems in education, would require financial commitment by governments, education authorities, faculties of education, and a time commitment from teachers.

At the same time the mathematics requirements for entry to teacher education programs could be made more stringent to ensure that students entering these programs will have greater mathematical understanding thus ensuring that methods courses in mathematics will be more relevant and useful.

Until we improve the entrance requirements and the qualifications of potential mathematics teachers, mathematics will be poorly taught, too many students will not achieve the numeracy skills necessary to function in today's society, and the work done by teachers will not be given the respect it deserves.

Jim Mennie BSc, MSc

A member of the Root7 team.

Root7 Educational Services is a company dedicated to creating quality mathematics resources, activities, and support for students, teachers, parents and anyone interested in improving mathematics education.

See our website http://www.root7.ca/

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Learning Spanish From Home

Are you looking for the best method to help your kids learn Spanish from home? In fact, you can find lots of Spanish courses in the web. But, it is not easy to find out for the best programs that are suitable for your kids. Learning a new language is such an enjoyable thing to do, or maybe you have to learn it for professional purposes or you are want to give your kid the best thing, learning Spanish from home is a great choice. Yes, it is not easy and it generally takes a lot of dedication and effort to learn a new language, specially the Spanish language.

Learning Spanish from home can only be effectual if you correctly follow the right method proper to your language speaking skills. By appropriately choosing what is suitable for maintaining your interest in the language or uncomplicated for you to learn. The following choices of learning Spanish from home are given below. Firstly, your kid can learn Spanish from home by interaction with natural Hispanic lecturers. There are many ways to do this. You can hire or contract the services at your home or a personal tutor. You can find this by asking friends who may have undergone learning through a teacher or by Hispanic speakers or looking up the yellow pages or browsing through the internet. Secondly, you can fetch for some resource materials which may aid you to start-up your language lessons in Spanish. You can look for the resource materials in the bookstore or language shop. For online resources, there are thousands of resource materials found in the internet on learning Spanish from home.

You can also find several software programs online which will help you in step by step processes or tips to follow in learning the language easily. They also have audio recordings on how to correctly speak the language. Moreover, you can find many online tutors or personal tutors in Orange County who are expertise in teaching Spanish language.

Parents can play a vital role for supporting their children in learning Spanish. Becoming proficient in a new language requires lots of effort and inspirations, and if parents could engage this learning course with their kids, the chance that they will learn Spanish will be much greater and easier. Hence, if you want to ease your kids learn Spanish effectively, you should look for an easy and enjoyable online Spanish course, and you can start learning Spanish from home with your kids. One can find several programs online and can go over the e-book with their kids for the basics like alphabets and grammar. You can find for a program that provides video and audio DVD's as this will help the children to grasp the proper pronunciation. Learning the work of art from Hispanic speakers could greatly assist the kid to pick up the words easier and faster. In Orange County, you can find many such programs which are taught by native Spanish speakers. The gaming system could easily attract the kids to practice Spanish language.

One can have the benefit of learning Spanish from home and discover the beautiful natural surroundings of the Orange County as well as the exciting life in the other cities in the county. Orange County offers Spanish language program for children at their home. If you want to learn Spanish from home in a short period and you should have a thorough knowledge about the local and national culture of them, there are several home tuition programs that give an effective way and an intensive enjoyable method to meet your personal goals.

Producer of Learn Spanish for Kids DVDs for elementary school children ages 4-12. The interactive lessons help students learn naturally by creating a visual link in your child's memory through Sight, Sound and Speech Association. By using repetitive teaching methods, exciting graphics and music, these DVDs prepare children to become fluent Spanish speakers.

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Learning Time Management Skills Is One of the Most Common Homeschool Problems

Learning time management skills in the homeschool environment is one of the most challenging tasks for parents and children alike. Out of all the resources that the homeschool family acquires or has, time is the most precious. Families that elect to educate their children at home have many responsibilities and tasks that need to be completed on a daily basis. It is not at all uncommon for duties to hit these families from all sides. If you find that you are a family that struggles with duties competing for your attention, it is essential to realize that you are not alone. Many are constantly striving to go about the process of learning time management skills in order to educate their children and handle their other obligations. Throughout this guide, you will learn some helpful steps for making the most of every minute in your day.

Eliminate Distractions

When it comes to homeschool problems that interfere with time management, distractions are at the top of the list. When you or your homeschooled child becomes distracted, it could result in the loss of focus. There are a variety of people, events, products and situations that may result in your attention being drawn from responsibilities that you need to tend to. For most families, the most common distractions are unexpected visitors and telephone calls. It is essential that you let your family members, relatives, friends, neighbors and others know what hours you dedicate to educating your child and politely ask them to refrain from calling or visiting during those hours unless an emergency occurs. While this may be an uncomfortable task, it is a necessary one when learning time management skills.

Organize Your Home

If you are interested in learning time management skills, it is imperative that you take the time to organize your home. First, it is important to designate a central location in the home where you will be educating your child. This area should be away from items that may divert your attention or your child's attention away from the lessons that they are subjected to throughout the day. Examples of these items include the television, a computer that is used for entertainment purposes, video game consoles, toys, and other items that are similar in nature. Disorganization is considered to be quite common as far as homeschool problems are concerned. You should ensure that the home is set up to accommodate the teaching that you will do. It is also important to ensure that you use products that will help you organize your time such as lesson plans, planners, magnetic schedulers, and similar products.

Conclusion

Distractions and disorganization are two very common homeschool problems that affect how productive or unproductive your day is as a homeschool parent. By taking the steps outlined in this guide, you will quickly discover that it is possible to finish all of the tasks that you have lined up all day. Learning time management skills is important for each member of the family. If you want to achieve an even higher level of success, you should consider getting the kids involved. There are several magnetic charts that may be purchased in order to motivate your children to take part in learning time management skills. There are chore charts, classroom activity charts, personal hygiene charts and several others available. You may quickly overcome common homeschool problems by using these specially designed products that are beneficial in learning time management skills.

This author enjoys working with families that are searching for tools and resources that will permit them to achieve a high level of success in the homeschool classroom. To learn more about these tools and resources, visit: http://www.mytoysmart.com/

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Simple Online Learning Time Management Tips

The exciting world of online learning offers a wealth of benefits to prospective students of all ages. Among the top benefits of taking online classes is the ability to study, take tests and complete projects online virtually any time you choose. Online education students are able to complete their entire online degree from home. In fact, many online students often report that one of their favorite elements regarding distance education classes is the ability to wake up, roll over and hop online to immediately start working on their online class requirements. However, there is a potential pitfall that also accompanies this type of educational environment. Without the standard guidelines and mandatory class time requirements of traditional colleges, online learning students are faced with the challenge of maintaining their own schedule and motivation. Time management is especially vital to an online student's successful completion of their distance learning degree program.

Today's communications technology provides an ideal supplement for online learning. Your online college professor is able to address your online class inquiries despite the absence of a physical classroom and you can easily study with your online classmates thanks to instant messaging and email programs. However, you must be careful of allowing these tools to become a distraction. Limit the number of times you check your instant messenger and email throughout the day to prevent wasting precious time that should be spent on your course work.

It may sound like too large a dose of common sense or common knowledge to suggest creating a to-do list, but the performance-enhancing potential that comes with doing so makes it worth mentioning. Not only can a to-do list help you stay on top of your assignment due dates, it can also help to create a sense of mental calm by knowing exactly what you need to do instead of wasting precious brain cells trying to keep track of scattered responsibilities.

Although all the tasks on your to-do list do indeed need to be completed, there are some tasks that are naturally less enjoyable than others. It is very important to avoid letting your personal preferences or dislikes for specific types of projects prevent you from taking care of the less enticing yet higher priority tasks. In addition, while it may be more enjoyable for you to work on certain types of activities first and pass over the high-priority tasks, there is undoubtedly at least a small degree of stress or anxiety that is created from this type of procrastination. It may not be a significant enough degree for you to readily perceive it and you may not be able to attribute certain feelings of overwhelm caused by delaying these high-priority responsibilities, but it's almost certainly affecting your overall stress and mental wellness levels.

Master your online education time management skills and you're sure to give your grades a significant boost!

For more information, please visit Online Learning.

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Ipod learning ?EUR" how to use audio to teach songs

This article is aimed at teachers and pupils on how to use audio to help learning of songs on piano. It is important for the pupil to be able on some level to develop good aural skills in order for them to play their favourite songs.
This means they should be working on:

recognising notes
scales
understanding key signatures and what they mean
intervals
rhythm as well as being able to sing back a melody they hear or clap a beat.

It is an ongoing process (listen to audio of how for a basic understanding of note positioning)

If you can, get your pupil to plug an ipod into an amplifier or start up Youtube will full sound.If possible, use either a laptop or an iphone.
Get them to pick either the melody (I recommend the melody if it starts together with the bass as it is easier to hear) or the bass and listen to it many times over. Start by playing a short segment of the music. Break it down so that what they hear is easily retainable. For pupils, you can do this also yourself. Play a short extract of your song then stop. Sing or hum it back what you hear. It doesn't need to be pitch perfect as long as you understand the rise and fall. If you can recognise the rhythm/way in which the melody moves, even better.
Doing this repeatedly (it can stretch to days or as long as you want to focus on each segment) will enable your pupil to gain insights each time they hear a section of the music.

Next teachers should write down what they hear for their pupil to read and remember. When a melody is transferred to paper it is easier to retain. So using "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for example, after hearing the melody the teacher can then write down on paper:
"C, C, G, G, A, A, G"

Another example is Justin Timberlake's song "Cry me a river" which I taught one pupil. I got them to hear the melody and after some repeated listening, where able to decipher the melody as:
A (rest), EEEE D, DDDDC, A CD

This then leads to the bass. If and when you focus on this, you will again need to do a lot of listening and this responsibility will fall on the pupil after the lesson. They will need to listen to lower notes and go through the process of playing little segments and taking in what they hear. Again it doesn't need to be note/pitch perfect a long as they understand the way the bass moves. You can get your pupil when playing the music to ask them whether the notes sound like they are below middle C on the piano. That is a good start because they will then know the range of the notes they hear.
However, the easiest way to use bass to compliment the melody (which will be played with the Right Hand) is to get the pupil to use chords. So using our previous examples:
"C, C, G, G, A, A, G"
Becomes:
"C, C, G, G, A, A, G"
G G C G
E E A E
C C F C

This is far easier than trying to pick apart the intricacies of a possibly elaborate bass (note and rhythm wise)
The next part is getting the beat right. Get your pupil to listen to the song in order to understand what time signature it might be in.

After some listens, see if they can clap to it and nod their head to the beat. Be aware though, some songs are so slow and irregular with the speed that it is better to focus on the notes instead.
Finally, after making some progress, get your pupil to play along to a segment of the music. It might well sound messy, but it also enables them to understand what the music is doing that they aren't able to replicate yet, be it speed, execution of certain notes, rhythm etc.

Ugo Onwutalu is a musician and piano teacher, also playing the guitar and organ. He is the founder of Grade Music Tutors, a UK music tuition production and entertainment organisation based in London. Visit Grade Music World for information on everything music-related, from learning an instrument and preparing for exams, to getting a job in the music industry.

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